Welcome to the Consumerist Archives

Thanks for visiting Consumerist.com. As of October 2017, Consumerist is no longer producing new content, but feel free to browse through our archives. Here you can find 12 years worth of articles on everything from how to avoid dodgy scams to writing an effective complaint letter. Check out some of our greatest hits below, explore the categories listed on the left-hand side of the page, or head to CR.org for ratings, reviews, and consumer news.

veterans

Veterans Administration, the VA and CVS have partnered for a test program that will have the pharmacy chain’s MinuteClinic urgent care centers treating some veterans for minor injuries and ailments. [More]

Last year, American Airlines issued an apology to a retired U.S. Marine after the veteran said he and his service dog were denied boarding a flight. While the airline put that incident behind it, it’s now facing a similar complaint from an Army vet who has accused the airline of mocking her and refusing to let her travel with her licensed service dog. [More]

When the U.S. Veterans Administration declares that someone is dead and stops their benefits, 99.83% of the time, that person really is dead. For the thousands of people that’s happened to in the last few years who weren’t dead, though, it’s awfully inconvenient to have the sprawling bureaucracy that they depend on for income and medical care declare that they were. [More]

Today is the day when we as a country take time to pause, appreciate and honor the veterans and active service members who have served our country. As part of that show of gratitude, many retailers are offering up freebies or deals for veterans as thanks — from free coffee to free haircuts. [More]

Since announcing a tuition reimbursement program for its workers in June 2014 – and an expansion to cover four years of schooling – Starbucks has sent more than 4,000 employees on a path toward an online bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University. Now, the company plans to expand the offering once again: covering the full tuition for a spouse or child of a veteran or active-duty servicemember working for the mega-coffee chain. [More]

American Airlines says it’s apologized to a retired U.S. Marine, after the veteran said he wasn’t allowed to board a flight he’d booked out of Los Angeles because he had his service dog with him. [More]

When a for-profit college closes its doors, students are often left with hefty student loan tabs and little recourse. Some of those borrowers may be eligible for a discharge of their debts through the Dept. of Education, but others – like the thousands of veterans who used their GI Bill benefits to finance their education – are simply out of luck, often losing their chance to obtain a degree, thanks in part to failures within the Department of Veterans Affairs. [More]

Donating to a worthy cause can provide a sense of doing something good for others, but as we’ve warned before, there’s a chance the money you’re donating isn’t making it to the actual charity. And, unfortunately, that shady tactic appears to be the case for two companies that sent solicitations on behalf of a veterans’ charity. [More]

In an effort to ease the transition from military service to the private sector — and help former servicemembers find jobs that match their skills — the Dept. of Veterans Affairs has launched a new service on its website that it hopes will allow employers to connect directly with veterans looking for work. [More]

People and dogs have been cooperating for thousands of years now. It’s our thing. In the modern world, it’s generally not okay to take your dog shopping, on a plane, or to Starbucks unless it’s a service dog trained to perform some kind of function other than being a fun pet. Not everyone knows this, which leads to some unfortunate situations…like the experience that a man had at a Houston Starbucks when he and his service dog were questioned at the door. [More]

It’s hard to believe some higher education institutions deceptively target veterans and servicemembers, but it does happen. To better ensure veterans’ and servicemembers’ input is being heard the federal government has launched a new reporting system to streamline consumer complaint investigations. [More]

As part of its plan to increase its workforce while helping military personnel transition to civilian work, Starbucks is announcing today that, over the next five years, it intends to hire at least 10,000 armed forces veterans and spouses of active-duty servicemembers. [More]

Responding to critics who say it sells too many cheap products made by overseas manufacturers, Walmart announced today that, over the course of the next decade, it promises to spend an additional $50 billion on goods made in the U.S. [More]

Melissa is a war veteran who has post-traumatic stress disorder and is able to function with the help of a service dog trained to help vets like her. She and her husband were recently strongly encouraged to leave a restaurant where they had dined with the dog before. No matter what kinds of documents or federal government websites she showed, the waitress, manager, and owner all insisted that the dog needed to leave…without actually telling the couple to get out of the establishment. [More]

Would you want a severely disabled war veteran for a neighbor? It’s hard to say “no” to that. Homes For Our Troops The group builds mortgage-free, accessible homes to severely disabled war veterans. The group was supposed to begin construction today on a specially designed house in Georgia for an Army veteran who suffered severe brain damage in Afghanistan. After months of planning, earlier this week the homeowners’ association reversed its approval, saying that the house must be multiple stories and 700 square feet larger to be part of the neighborhood, or it will affect property values. [More]

For U.S. troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, they’re coming home to a depressed job market and double-digit unemployment. That’s why a little Washington-based software company called Microsoft is ponying up $2 million in cash and $6 million in software to help these new civilians find jobs. [More]

A cancer unit at the V.A Medical Center in Philadelphia “operated with virtually no outside scrutiny and botched 92 of 116 cancer treatments over a span of more than six years.” The team even continued to perform surgeries for a year after a key piece of equipment broke. [New York Times] (Photo: OakleyOriginals)